Our Story

Miss Tina has spent her life pursuing her passion for dance. She has been a part of the studio since it began. Miss Tina’s students have gone on to have wonderful careers is dance and art related fields. She has continued to train with some of the best teachers in the country and she brings that knowledge back to all her classes. Miss Tina is well rounded and teaches all subjects at GDP. Miss Tina is a member of and certified to teach by Dance Masters of America and the Cecchetti Council of America. She is also the Co-Director of the Majestic Dance Ensemble of Michigan.

Miss Michele began at Gayle’s as a student of 11 years. She graduated from Oakland University in 2004 with a Bachelors of General Studies degree with a Health Science focus. Michele taught dance for 5 years before taking over the administrator position. If you need help with anything at our studio, Michele has the answer or can get it quick. She really understands all aspects of the studio. Miss Michele is now married with one child named Lilly.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR

Miss Nina started dancing when she was only 2 years old. She danced for many years as a competitive dancer. When she entered high school, she joined the Pom team and soon became their captain. After high school, Miss Nina attended college at Michigan State University where she graduated in 2005 with a Communications degree. This is Miss Nina's 25th year of teaching dance. She teaches both competition and non-competition classes. Her dances have won many high point awards and judges awards including, Precision Awards, Best Costume, Best in Category, along with many Overalls.  Miss Nina is married and mother to a son, Beck and two daughters, Willow and Lydia.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR

Miss Shelby graduated from Central Michigan University in December 2018 with a Bachelor’s of Art degree majoring in Communications and minoring in Marketing. She was a dance team member at CMU for 2 years and a Captain her final season. Before starting her teaching career at Gayles’s, Shelby was a student for 17 years performing in all styles of dance. Recently Shelby started her own dance team for dancers who are not offered UDA dance teams at their high schools and became the head coach of the Oakland All-Stars Dance team. Miss Shelby loves spending time with her family especially her (fur) baby Millie.

Miss Alyssa has been dancing since the age of 2.  Being the daughter of our founder, Miss Alyssa had been born to dance! She danced competitively at GDP her entire life where she continued on at UofM.  Spending all 4 years on UofM's dance team and graduating with a dance degree, Miss Alyssa has lots of love for the art.  She has recently gotten married and can't wait to continue to pass along her passion for dance to the GDP dancers.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR  

Miss Alex graduated from Grand Valley State University in April 2019 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Radiation Therapy. She was a member of the GVSU dance team for four years and was a Captain for her final two years. She is currently a full-time radiation therapist at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Flint. Alex started dancing at the age of 3 and was on the competitive team at Gayle’s for 10 years. This is her second year back teaching at Gayle’s and she is also an assistant coach of the Oakland All-Stars Dance Team. 

 DANCE INSTRUCTOR  

 Miss Rachel has been dancing her entire life and has a true passion for both dancing and teaching. During her years as a competitive dancer she earned several national titles, including a UDA national championship. She was also the Varsity Pom & Dance team coach at South Lyon East High School for the past seven years. Rachel is a University of Detroit Mercy graduate and is currently a Nurse in the ER at Beaumont Hospital. Rachel is ecstatic to be joining the GDP family and cannot wait for 2022/2023 season to begin! 

 DANCE INSTRUCTOR 

Kate started dancing at the age of three, as a company member at Mary Skiba’s School of Dance, she trained in ballet, tap, jazz and modern. Upon graduating from the company and starting at Western Michigan University, Kate found a passion for teaching dance while continuing her training at local Kalamazoo studios. Kate transferred to Michigan State University to major in Organization Communication. While attending MSU, Kate started teaching at a studio in Okemos, MI. In addition Kate studied dance education at Lansing Community College at the same time to further her dance education.

In 2008 Kate in addition to marrying her husband Jim, founded Elite Dance Company in East Lansing, MI. Instilling a passion for dance in her students as well as bringing a fresh new dance ideology to the area, Elite quickly became one of the top studios in the area training dancers with a focus on technique and creativity in movement. EDC went on to win many awards for the work they took to stage. In 2010 Kate became a certified dance instructor of the Dance & Gym USA and a lifetime member for performance achievement recognition. To keep up with the ever changing world of dance, Kate spent summers at Broadway Dance Center taking classes and learning all she could to bring back to her students. In addition, she attended the Dance Teacher Summits during the summer to ensure her business and teaching practices were held to the highest standards.   

In 2017 Kate sold Elite Dance Company to a former employee who has continued to grow the success of the studio. Kate became a stay at home mom to her three children, Dominick, Sydney and Olivia. Quickly realizing dance was missing, she began to teach at a local studio where her daughter was dancing, focusing on ballet technique. Kate also began studying additional forms of ballet, including Progression and the Godfrey Method to be able to bring different forms of technique to her students while keeping traditional technique at the heart of her focus. Kate’s strong passion for dance and teaching young dancers the art has always been an important part of who she is. She is thrilled to be
joining the GDP family and bringing her love of dance.

 DANCE INSTRUCTOR 

Miss Anna recently graduated from Grand Valley State University this past April with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and a Minor in Dance. While at GVSU she was a part of the Laker Dance Team for four years and a captain for her last two. Anna has grown up dancing since she was 2 and has been passionate about it every jazz square of the way. This is Anna’s first year back teaching at the studio as well as her first year as an Assistant Varsity Coach for South Lyon East High School and she could not be any more excited!